The UNMC Student Alliance for Global Health (SAGH) is proudly celebrating its 25th anniversary. To mark this special occasion, this year, the SAGH Board arranged a speaker series for the entire UNMC community from March 22-26.
The speakers came from a variety of medical backgrounds, but all shared their views of global health and ways to make a difference here in the U.S. Speakers included Gina Wilson-Ramirez, MD, MPH, MA, Class of 1998; and Steve Pergam, MD, MPH, Class of 1998; who were the original co-founders of SAGH and who organized the first medical service trip in March of 1996 (pictured above). Other speakers included Nicholas Comninellis, MD, MPH, DIMPH; Elizabeth Rogers, MD, MAS, Class of 2007; and Christine Ngaruiya, MD, MSc, DTMH, Class of 2010.
"It's impossible to participate in a global health rotation without seeing the stark inequities of our world. My international experiences as a medical student shaped my worldview and my commitment to social justice and health equity, helping to mold me into the physician and the human that I am today," said Elizabeth Rogers, MD, one of the guest speakers.
The Student Alliance for Global Health was launched in August 1995; the first medical service trip took place in March 1996, with 13 students and Dr. Kristine McVea (the current medical director of OneWorld) and Sara Pirtle as faculty/staff sponsors to Nicaragua. One of the participants arranged for her his mother (a Spanish language professor) to offer a medical Spanish course prior to departure.
Flash forward 25 years later:
- Medical service trips have been offered annually from 1996-2019. They were stopped for the past two cycles only, due to the pandemic.
- The medical service trips are interdisciplinary; to date, students from all seven UNMC colleges have participated: medicine, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, public health, dentistry, and grad studies.
- From 13 students, the number of participants has grown to approximately 50 or more students each year, spread out over two or more locations.
- Over the years, service trips have taken place in Jamaica, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, the Texas/Mexico border, and several Native American reservations.
- Short-term Medical Spanish classes are offered every year, keeping up the tradition that began the first year of SAGH’s existence.
- The 2020-21 SAGH board includes at least four students not originally from the US and has board representatives from most UNMC colleges.
"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve as the 2020-2021 Vice President of SAGH. We are thankful for all our speakers joining us to celebrate our 25th-anniversary event. During the kick-off meeting with Dr. Wilson-Ramirez and Dr. Pergam, it was inspirational to hear about how SAGH transformed from a simple thought into what it is now," said Heng Jiang, M2 student at UNMC.